How She Sees Him

The decision had been made to give River a little longer break than usual before venturing into the village. It would be better to have the horse be a little more rested being there was no telling exactly what they were walking into.

As such, Islana decided it might be best to take a small break herself. The young woman gazed upward towards the white capped peak of the mountains where the clouds touched the earth. If her arm wasn't in a sling she might have climbed a tree to get a better view.

Her brother used to tell stories of such places but Islana had thought them to be mythical. Now, she wondered how he had known of such things. Had their mother passed the stories to him? The boy would have been five when she died, just old enough to recall what he was being told.

Granted there was no reason to believe her mother had actually been from Torja. Maybe she had been from somewhere else. Some place with snow covered peaks

Given the current situation, it seemed strange her mind had drifted to those thoughts but Hunter made her think of Torja. For two people who came from the same place their upbringing had been so different.

Islana knew little of the world outside the woods she grew up in until she went with Lord Vasant, even then she was confined to his house and grounds. Apparently, Hunter had a very different life. Raised to be an assassin. Despite him telling her about it, to a limited degree, it was a difficult thing to imagine.

To be honest, she had never known him in the sense of being a cold blooded killer - mostly because he wasn't to her. The man claimed Voah had helped him become "human", in Hunter's words, but Islana believed anyone that could fall in love the way that Hunter had to have had a conscience and feelings when it happened.

Granted both had been at mercy of sadistic owners who wanted to use each of them for their own benefits but before that Islana had some semblance of family. For that reason alone the young woman thought that Hunter's lot in life had been worse than her own.

Thoughts of Hunter working and being close friends with Voah had been shoved to the side. There was little Islana could do but take Hunter at his word that he wouldn't tell her secret.

It didn't matter at this moment. Priority went to saving the man, worrying about what came after that wouldn't do any good.

Taking in a deep breath of the mountain air in an attempt of rejuvenation, the redhead turned back towards the men. It was time to move on.